MASSOB, police clash in Asaba
(Nigeria) A fight broke out between policemen and
some people suspected to be members of Movement for the Sovereign
State of Biafra, MASSOB, in Asaba, Delta State on Monday,
eyewitnesses said.
It was gathered that the incident
occurred on Anwai Road in the city when MASSOB members were marching
to demand for the independence of Biafra.
Witnesses said some persons, including
policemen, injured in the fracas, were taken to the Federal Medical
Centre, Asaba.
A nurse at the FMC, who pleaded
anonymity, confirmed that some of the injured were brought to the
hospital.
An eyewitness, Mr Uche Okelue, said
that the fracas broke out after a police team threw teargas at the
marchers in an effort to disperse them.
"The police used teargas on the
MASSOB people as they were protesting along Anwai Road this morning,
so the people got angry and attacked the policemen with knives and
broken bottles.
"They caught one policeman, beat
him up before stabbing him to death; it was a fierce confrontation as
everyone ran in different directions," Okelue said.
Another eyewitness, Mr Ben Onwordi,
said that another fight between the police and MASSOB members at the
popular Mammy Market Junction on Nnebisi Road, Asaba.
"As the group were protesting, the
police patrol vehicle came behind them and tried to disperse them but
the MASSOB people resisted and in the process they clashed and many
people were injured.
"The MASSOB people damaged the
police patrol vehicle, vandalising the windscreen and doors before
all of them fled into different directions," Onwordi said.
It also gathered that another clash
occurred at the River Niger Bridge on the border between Delta and
Anambra states when some MASSOB members tried to conduct a similar
rally.
A police source who pleaded anonymity
said that MASSOB members had attacked some policemen at the bridge
head, overpowering two of them, before throwing them into the river.
"We have been able to retrieve one
of them from the river. He was brought out in an unconscious mood and
rushed to the hospital, however, the second victim is still missing,"
he said.
When contacted, the spokesperson for
the Police Command in Delta, Mr Charles Mouka, a Superintendent of
Police, said the police were still monitoring the situation.
"We are still waiting for
information on the incident. As I speak to you now, we are in the
field, so I cannot say anything for now," Mouka said.
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